Going to Vienna, Austria

[bennelson]

Yes, they have Vienna sausages here.
@300MPGBen: Ampera is on display at Frankfort airport. Still upset with Obama for making me miss my connecting flight. Twitter / 300MPGBen : Ampera is on display at Fr

[bennelson]

Just spent the last hour talking about flywheels, regen from DC motors, supercaps and more with an Indian PHD electrical engineering student.

If I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm the dumbest guy in the room.

[gone-ot]

...yah, but you've probably actually DONE something tangible with flywheels, regen from DC motors, supercaps, etc. where they've only done mental exercises with theories as to 'real-world' applications of those flywheels, regen from DC motors, and supercaps (ha,ha)!

...give me the man with "dirty hands" because HE's actually getting something done!

..."Congratulations!"

[bennelson]

There are 9 of us "lead users" here. They were picked from originally over 200 people. Most of the people contacted were either from industry or universities. Only 23 "individuals" were on the original list. I'm the only one here NOT with a University, electronics manufacturer, etc. Almost everyone here has a Masters, PHD, etc. Heck, I don't even have my associates degree yet.
Also, I'm the only one here with a broken ankle from test-piloting experimental electric vehicles.

-Ben

Ps: it's hard to update over a hotel network in a foriegn country on a smart phone

Pps: All of the ads on Ecomodder are in German for me!

[JethroBodine]

Keep 'em in line, Ben. I've always though that the Piled Higher and Deepers should actually work on objects in their respective fields before they are allowed to design anything. Sure would make my job easier.

P.S. Remember, there is a difference between education and intelligence, you don't necessarily need one to have the other.

[bennelson]

Just flew back from Vienna, boy are my arms tired....

[jakobnev]

boy are my arms tired...

BUSTED! The place where you walk on your hands is Australia not Austria!

[bennelson]

No, my friend, there are no kangaroos in Austria.

There is however, OPEC. Seriously. Earlier in the day, somebody told me that the world headquarters of OPEC is located in Vienna, Austria. It sort of made sense, because there is TONS of banking in Vienna.

The last night there, I was walking back to the hotel at 1:30 in the morning, through an odd route, because we didn't actually know where we were going, and I stumbled on OPEC.

I grabbed a photo with my cell-phone.



It's just a building like any other, except that much of the planet is powered by that one organization.. It was weird.

[bennelson]

The trip out to Vienna was kinda crazy.
It took three different flights to get there. One in the US, in to cross the Atlantic, and another to cross Europe.

On the trans-Atlantic flight, we were on the the runway, when one of the flight-attendants said something like "Oh no, I hope we get out of here soon enough..."

It turned out that Airforce One was going to be landing at our airport. Whereever Airforce One is, EVERYTHING else shuts down.

We were already on the runway, and ended up being there for about an hour all together. I wouldn't mind having my flight delayed, if at least I was in the airport. Stuck on the runway for any amount of time is never fun, but especially when you have another 8 hours to spend in the plane AND have to catch another flight.


So, Obama made me miss my connection in Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing like still recovering from a broken leg, trying to run through a foreign airport, while being jet-lagged, and not speaking the language!

That was a bit nerve-racking. When I finally did find somebody to help me and rebook a flight, I noticed that right behind me was a display of the Opel Ampera!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWlpQAl_pMk

What an unexpected start to my trip!